Vehicle shade holder



1929- P. A. BERNHARDT VEHICLE SHADE HOLDER Filed Oct. 17. 1927 P 4. INVZVQTE 52w Mf/xd ATTORNEY:

Patented Oct. 1, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAUL A. BERNHARDT, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR T LOEFFELHGLZ COLI- PANY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 013 WISCONSIN VEHICLE SHADE HOLDER Application filed October 17, 1927. Serial No. 226,556.

This invention relates to improvements in vehicle shade holders.

The object of this invention is to provide a durable, neat and attractive shade holder which will securely hold a glass lamp shade in place and prevent rattling or destructive vibrations, under the conditions to which lamp shades are subjected when incorporated in railway and highway vehicles, regard being had for cleanliness and for resistance to destructive or corrosive chemicals such as are employed for disinfecting purposes in vehicles designed for public transportation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shade holder which will uniformly en gage the neck portions of glass shades wit-h equal security and non-rattling efficiency notwithstanding the inevitable size variations due to lack of uniformity in the glass blowing or casting operations.

A further object of this invention is to pro- I vide a shade holder which will permit the removal and replacement of shades with maximum expedition and security against breakage and which may be more easily and thoroughly cleansed upon removal of the shades than the shade holders heretofore employed for similar purposes.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved shade holder with a shade connected therewith.

Figure 2 is a view of the shade holder as seen from the under side upon removal of the shade.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the shade holder drawn on line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view drawn on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The shade holder body is preferably of a generally bell-shaped form, with an axially disposed tubular stem 11 at the top which projects into the bell to form a lamp socket. The upper portion of the bell may also be provided with ventilating apertures 18 in accordance with the usual practice. The upper portion of the bell-shaped structure forms no part of the present invention and further description is, therefore, deemed unnecessary.

The bell mouth is abruptly curved outwardly and downwardly as indicated at l-l and is provided with an inturned marginal flange 15 which, with the outwardly turned portion 14, forms an arcuate or annular channel 16. Inwardly from the channel space, arcuate gripping bars 17 are centrally supported from diametrically opposite sides of the hell by rod like arms 18, the outer end portions of which. extend through apertures in the marginal portion 14 of the bell and are provided with exterior knobs 19. Springs 20 are coiled about the stems between the marginal portions 1 1 of the bell and the gripping bars 17, these springs being normally concealed or substantially concealed within the arcuate or circular channels or channel 16.

The extremities of the bar 17 are turned outwardly to form a set of parallel or substantially parallel guide arms 22 and the wall of the portion 1% is extended inwardly to partially fill the channel. 16 or form shoul ders therein having semi-cylindrical grooves 23, along the surface of which the arms 22 are guided, whereby the bar 17 is supported at each end of these guide grooves 23 and the associated arms 22, in addition to the central supporting rod 18 in each instance.

Within the channel 16 and at points between the central supporting rod 18 and the respective ends of the bar 17 compression springs 25 are mounted between the bar and the inner surface of the-channel wall, these springs tending to urge the bar 17 inwardly toward the vcrti cal axis of the bar. Anchor studs 26 and 27 are preferably provided on the bar 17 and the inner surface of the wall of the channel in order to anchor these springs in position while allowing them to freely flex during inward and outward bodily movements of the bar 17.

The curvature of the bar 17 is in substantial conformity with the curvature of the exterior surface of the neck of the glass shade which. the holder is designed to engage and the length of the bar is such that two diametrically opposite bars carried by the shade holder will adequately engage and retain the neck of the glass shade in a manner to prevent the shade from rattling. The normal projection of the bar when engaging a shade will be suflicient to hold all other portions of the shade out of contact with any other portion of the holder, the shade being wholly carried by these arcuate bars and the weight of the shade being carried by the guiding extremities 22 and the central rod or pin 18 of each arcuate bar 17. Preferably these bars 17 will each embrace the shade neck through an arc of about 90.

A shade holder constructed as above described has a minimum number of movable parts, with all surfaces exposed for access to cleaning tools and disinfectants when the shade is removed, each of the bars being capable of inward movement under pressure applied to the knobs whereby the springs may be easily reached and cleansed and the cleansing fluid quickly shaken out by vibratory movements imparted to the knobs after the cleansing operation. The bell-shaped bars are preferably formed of cast, wrought, forged or die-cast metal or non-corrosive alloys of ordinary cast metals, whereby the shade holders may be kept in their original condition with minimum care under the conditions of rough usage. The shade holders are held with such security that breakage while in use is practically eliminated and breakage during removal and replacement is reduced to a minimum by reason of the ease with which the shade may be released and reengaged. They can be released by pressing them slightly against one of the arcuate bars while retracting the knob 19 of the opposing bar until the shade may be swung downwardly on one side. WVhen replacing the shade it can be tilted until its neck portion engages one of the arcuate bars whereupon it can be pushed into place with a quick upward movement toward its normal perpendicular position either with or without manually retracting the knob of the opposing arcuate bar.

The gripping bars 17 are preferably substantially cylindrical in cross section although any external form of the bar suitable for engagement with the neck of'the glass shade may be adopted. Also whileI have described the body as having a generally bellshaped form, any other suitable form may be adopted, the bell-shaped form being preferred because it occupies minimum-space, is neat in appearance and conveniently cleaned both interiorly and exteriorly. It will also be understood that while I prefer to employ a bar of opposed or diametrically opposite gripping bars 17 in view of the ease with which the shade may be manipulated into and out of place when a single pair of such bars is employed yet I do not limit the scope of my invention to the use of a single pair of such bars as distinguished from three symmetrically placed gripping bars or any greater number, of bars similarly supported and operated.

By employing an internal channel to house the springs and into which the arcuate gripping bars may be retracted it is possible to reduce the size of the body to a minimum and to release the neck portion of the shade holder through an opening in the hanger body which is but slightly greater than the diameter of the holder. Clamping screws and other clamping devices for gripping the glass with variable or manually adjustable pressures are entirely eliminated and long arcuate bearings under predetermined spring pressure are substituted. The compression springs may be either radially disposed, or set parallel with the rods 18.

I claim:

1. A vehicle shade holder comprising the combination of a hanger body portion having a circular lower margin provided with an internal channel, a set of arcuate gripping bars supported along the inner side of said channel and disposed for co-operation in gripping between them the neck of a lamp shade, a set of springs mounted in said channel and arranged to" urge said gripping bars inwardly to successive positions in concentric circles and operating pieces each secured to the central portion of one of the bars and having supporting connections with the margin of the body, the respective end portions of each bar being outwardly turned and the body being provided with guides therefor.

2. A vehicle shade holder comprising the combination of a hollow hanger body having a circular lower margin, a set of arcuate gripping bars supported from said margin for movement toward and away from the axis of the body to positions within circles concentric to such axis, sliding supports, each connecting the central portion of one of the bars with thecircular margin of the holder body, guides for the ends of the bars, and springs interposed between the bars and body margin and arranged to normally urge the bars in the direction of said axis.

3. A vehicle shade holder comprising the combination of a hollow hanger body having a circular lower margin, a set of arcuate gripping bars supported from said margin for movement toward and away from the axis of the body to positions within circles concentric to such axis, sliding supports, each con necting the central portion of one of the bars with the circular margin of the holder body, guides for the ends of the bars, and springs interposed between the bars and body margin and arranged to normally urge the bars in the direction of said axis, each of the bars being cylindrical in cross section and having outwardly turned parallel end portions engaged I by said guides.

4:. A vehicle shade holder comprising the combination of a hollow hanger body having a circular lower margin, provided with gripping bar guides, a set of arcuate gripping bars supported from said margin for movement toward and away from the axis of the body to positions within circles concentric to such axis, sliding supports, each connecting the central portion of one of the bars with the circular margin of the holder body, and springs interposed between the bars and body margin and arranged to normally urge the bars in the direction of said axis, each of the bars being cylindrical in cross section and having end portions engaged by the guides on the body margin, each of said guides having the form of inwardly projecting shoulders provided with grooves of a generally semi-cylindrical form.

5. A vehicle shade holder comprising the combination of a bell-shaped hanger body having an abruptly curved lower margin provided with an inturned flange and an internal channel above said flange, a pair of arcuate gripping bars each having ends in sliding connection with the channeled portion of the body, operating rods each secured to the center of each arcuate bar, each rod extending through the channel in the associated portion of the body and provided with an exterior operating knob, and springs in said channel interposed between the body and the associated rods to urge the rods toward the center of the space enclosed by the channeled margin of the body.

6. A vehicle shade holder comprising the combination of a solid metal hanger body, provided with a circular lower marginal portion to receive the neck portion of a glass lamp shade and a set of arcuate neck embracing lamp shade grips supported from the mar ginal portion of the body under pre-determined resilient inward pressure, each of said grips being provided with an operating piece extending outwardly from the body to facilitate manual retraction of the grip against such resilient pressure, the end portions of each grip being guided by the body along lines parallel to the line of movement of the manually movable operating piece and said guiding portions and resilient mountings being located within a recess in the internal surface of the wall of the body.

7. A shade holder comprising a ring memher having diametrically opposite channels upon its inner periphery, the ends of each channel being parallel and disposed in respective chords of the ring, gripping bars each slidable radially of the ring in said channels and guided by the sides thereof, resilient means urging said bars centrally of the ring, and manually operable means carried by the bars and extending exteriorly of the ring for moving the bars radially outwardly of the ring.

PAUL A. BERNHARDT. 

